Sailor Soldiers
by B.D. Skunkworks
Summary: Five ordinary teenage girls make a discovery that results in the extraordinary. Chosen by destiny, they must uptake the mantle of the legendary fighting force known as the Sailor Soldiers. But with tensions running high between them, and a seemingly unstoppable threat looming, can they succeed in defending their world where others have fallen?
1. Shard 1- The Alignment

*Shard 1*

The Alignment

...

It was 7:36am on a relatively nondescript Tuesday morning. These two combining factors meant but one thing...

Usagi Tsukino was late for school.

The girl in question, as could be easily seen by anyone who cared enough to watch, was currently tearing town the not-so-crowded early-morning streets. "Stupid... alarm... clock..." she gasped between breaths to herself. "What good is it if it doesn't even ring when I tell it to!?"

She continued her charge down the sidewalk and by some stroke of otherworldly luck, did she manage to catch the green light at the corner. Her stride unbroken, she plundered into the street and just there in her very immediate path, was a small black cat. "Yikes!" Usagi vaulted over the small creature and stuck a somewhat awkward landing, the skirt of her school uniform flaring up just a _little_ bit higher than she would have otherwise liked out here in public.

Still in a crouch, did she turn back to stare at the marauding feline. "Hey, you, that could have ended badly for both of us you know."

 _"Mroww,"_ was the response from the cat.

The little cat had sauntered up to Usagi now, and seemed to be attempting to win her affection by coiling itself around her leg. "Aw, aren't you pretty," Usagi cooed. She stroked the cat's arching back as it purred it's appreciation. "You must be a people cat; a stray wouldn't anyone pet them like this." The cat mewed again, as though in agreement. "Sorry I can't stay, I'm really late for school and I gotta get going. Bye now!" She gave the little cat a final pat on the head and departed at high speed.

And but mere minutes from there, (something of a record for Usagi as the girl usually gassed out on this mad morning run) did she arrive at the school building, just in time for the first bell of the morning.

"Not late after all," she gasped. She clenched a fist to celebrate her minute victory. And there, just inside the gates to this place was one of Usagi's best friends.

Her name was Ami Mizuno. She was a rather meek girl, as intelligent as she was shy. The girl didn't have many friends, not because she was unlikable by any means; she, much unlike Usagi herself, was somewhat awkward and reserved in her social interactions. Reason being, most couldn't relate to Ami's advanced level of verbal coordination; even short conversations with her would leave their heads spinning. It was something of a school mystery how the flaky airhead Usagi managed to befriend one of the smartest people in the region.

"Good morning, Usagi," was Ami's greeting.

"Hey," was all Usagi could muster, as she was still slightly winded from the run.

Ami cocked her head a bit. "You are perspiring. Then again that is hardly a surprise." Ami checked her slim wristwatch, which she wore with the face turned to the inside of her left wrist. "You arrived but a mere six seconds before the tardiness threshold. That's a new record for you!" The last part was said as a joke, which achieved it's desired effect as Usagi giggled. and from there, did they make their way up the courtyard.

As they walked, Ami asked, "Usagi, may I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course," was Usagi's answer. "As long as it doesn't involve any more running. My feet are already killing me in these kitten heels..."

"Well, running may or may not be involved," Ami said back. Usagi shot her a quizzical look. "As it happens, I require your assistance in an endeavor I am pursuing. Said task is about on it's final leg, so your input should be relatively minimal."

By some bizarre mental biometric or another, Usagi, who under any other circumstance was incredibly easy to confuse, was never really mystified or baffled at Ami's speech pattern, as so many others often were. There was just something about the way her words flowed and their contextual delivery that seemed to settle naturally in Usagi's brain, although she had no hope of responding in kind.

"Okay, sure. What kind of help do you need?"

"I need you to escort me just a little ways up past The Angel's Grove."

"That's a little ways away. What for?" Usagi asked.

"Because that happens to be where my project resides," was Ami's answer. "I can drive my father's van to the location."

"Hmm, okay. I'll come with you then."

"Splendid!" Ami responded jubilantly. "I shall arrive at your residence tonight at six pm."

"It's a date," Usagi confirmed.

...

The heat from the fire was intense, as any fire's heat would be were you to sit this close to it. Rei Hino stared as deep into the mystic dancing flames as her mortal eyes would allow. Her stare was steady, even trance-like. And despite the steely stillness of her face, her hands were anything but idle. They were currently dancing with a practiced and ritualistic rhythm over a deck of astral tarot cards just at her knees in front of her. Her right hand now paused over the deck, and with a single deft movement, did she draw a single card from the top. She looked to it. "The Moon..." she said aloud. She drew the next card. "Venus..." and she continued to draw. "Mercury...Mars...Jupiter..."

She lay the cards in a symmetrically perfect horizontal line. Rei then relaxed her tensed muscles as she expelled a breath. "That makes eleven days in row now," she mused to herself. "But what could it mean...?" In her daily tarot ritual, Rei had indeed been drawing this exact same sequence of astral bodies. The meaning behind their alignment however, was something that escaped her.

Before she had time to ponder any further. There was something of a disturbance at the door to this place. "Rei?" It was the voice of her friend and volunteer coworker at this temple, Yuuichirou.

"Yes, Yuu, what is it?"

"Oh, I didn't know if you were done or not..." the young man said meekly.

Rei stood up as she dusted off the knees of her robes. "I am quite finished, yes," she said.

Yuuichirou waffled about rather nervously. "Uh, thing is, it's your turn to gather firewood tonight..."

Rei smiled with a pleasant roll of her eyes. "I'm quite aware, thank you."

Yuuichirou smiled in return. "Should be a little easier for you this time. I cut and stacked a pile of prime lumber round about the usual place in The Angel's Grove. Can't guarantee anyone hasn't made off with it though..."

"I understand," Rei said. "I'll head to The Angel's Grove on tonight's eve."

With the matter of tinder gathering settled, Rei made from the room. Her itinerary, a cool shower.

...

 _Mako, I wish you would talk to me..._

"I am talking to you," Makoto said into her phone. "This is a conversation we're having; discourse. You talk, then I talk. That's how it works."

 _But you don't just talk. You-_

"Chide? Nitpick? Bully? You can take either or, or all of the above. If it applies, check the box."

 _You know, I heard somewhere that sarcasm is a vessel for intelligence. but you seem intent only on practicing the former._

"Why the hell are you talking to me anyway? Wouldn't you much rather be talking to _him?_ "

 _...He's out right now. So I thought-"_

"This could be a prime opportunity to call up good old Makoto and ask her what time she'll be coming home tonight?"

 _Well this is the only way I can get a hold of you! You're practically never home anymore and you worry me sick! Just where are you anyway?_

"What the hell does it matter where I am? I'll just say that I'm in my element, which is any place but where _he_ is."

 _Makoto, sweetheart-_

"Goodbye, mother." And with a beep, the conversation was ended there.

Most would say that Makoto Kino was a troubled child. And they would be right. Said trouble though was something she hardly asked for. Her life was just fine until her mother moved that absolute slug she called a boyfriend into their home. He was an absolute sleazeball as far as Makoto was concerned. Although she never told her mother about it, he had made more than one unwanted advance on her, even going so far as touching her in places she'd rather not mention. Makoto cured him of that habit quite quickly though; a swift kick to the groin would do that.

And ever since then, Makoto had been coming here, on the edge if a hillside that overlooked The Angel's Grove.

Makoto was never quite sure why they called it The Angel's Grove, as firstly, this collection of trees was far too large to be considered a grove, the trees went on for miles, it could have easily been called 'The Angel's Forest'. And secondly, she didn't really see anything too angelic about this big patch of wood and leaves...they were just trees for fuck's sake.

What Makoto did like about this place was the quiet it provided. The sounds of urban civilization didn't reach out here. There was only the echo of birdsong and the rustle of wind in the trees. Out here, she could retreat to her most private of thought processes. ' _Someday...I'll leave this place behind'_ she thought. _'I don't need her, him,anyone...'_ Makoto chewed on the inside of her cheek. _'I don't need any friends, no kind of team or some shit like that. All I need is me...'_

This last thought resounded most vibrantly with her. "All I need is me..." she said aloud.

... 

"Hey, you, back in line, don't wander off! Put that down, heaven knows where it came from it's probably covered in germs- don't put it in your mouth!"

Minako Aino brought up the rear of a line of people that consisted of exactly ten camp counselors (including herself) and twenty elementary-school-aged children. As it was, Minako worked part time at The Crystal Seminar Youth Retreat. And today just so happened to be their long-anticipated camping trip; up in the wilderness of The Angel's Grove. They had been hiking in this orderly single-file fashion for near twenty minutes, and the children were already becoming restless, despite being in constant walking stride.

It was quite a shame, Minako thought, that they were far too young to appreciate the true beauty of nature's splendor. The trees here in The Angel's Grove were some of the tallest and healthiest-looking she had seen in some time. She loved how the rays from The Sun filtered and flitted through gaps in tree's canopies, creating dancing patterns of light and shadow. And even amongst all that, there was just something... _greater_ that she sensed about this place; one of those incommunicable human nuances that people often felt; things they knew, but could never explain why.

"Alright everyone!" was the call from the front of the line; the head counselor. "We'll set up our tents here in this clearing, then we'll all go swimming in the pond. sound good?"

"Yayyyy!" was the collective cry from the children.

The clearing was soon filled with activity as the space was terraformed with canvas tents and tiny plastic chairs. Two of Minako's fellow counselors seemed to be in deep conversation, one that she could hear easily. "Swimming eh? Sounds like a good deal. Imagine seeing Minako-chan in a swimsuit!"

"My nose is already bleeding," said his comrade.

Minako walked up behind the two, and clapping a hand on each of their shoulders, poked her head between each of their own. "Sorry, not today, boys," she taunted playfully. "I'm not scheduled for life guard duty. You'll have to find something else to fap to tonight!"

"Oh, fate is so cruel!" Was the despaired response to this.

Minako poked about the camp, assisting where she was needed, and eventually found niche setting up the snack table with two of her fellow female counselors. "Oh, Lord, this is exactly what the children _don't_ need. Chocolate chip cookies and grape soda; it's practically _nitrous_ in their bellies," said one of them. "I offered to pack some perfectly lovely carrot sticks, but no..."

Minako laughed. "Carrot sticks? You may as well try to feed them dirt! Every eight-year-old's diet consists of nothing but pure sugar. Let them enjoy it while they're young."

"I suppose..." her comrade said rather dejectedly.

Minako clapped her hands to signal everyone's attention. "Whoooooo's Hungry! We've got cookies and soda for everybody!" And their position was instantly rushed by dozens of tiny little hands grabbing whatever paper plate they could reach. And not too long from there..."Oh no, we're all out!" Minako cried dramatically. The cookie-less stranglers at the back of the line cried their protest. "Fear not, my pretties, I shall retrieve more from the store!" And she ran off to the supply tent. She laughed mentally to herself. _'today is going to be so much fun'_ "Nothing out of the ordinary at all," she said.

...

Immediately after dinner, Usagi raced up to her room to get ready for her and Ami's arranged meeting. She remembered Ami mentioning something about "input" and "assistance" so she decided to dress in a more utilitarian manner, slim blue denim overalls over a long-sleeved shirt and low-top pink boots. She grabbed her bunny-cased cell phone from atop her dresser and made downstairs. "Goin' out for a bit bit, Mom. Love you, bye!" She made haste out the front door and took up station on the front porch.

"Now hold on just a minute, Usagi," her mother said, pursuing the girl to the porch. "I don't remember you mentioning going anywhere; especially on a school night."

"Umm...I...welll..." Usagi waffled on the spot as she tried to come up with an explanation. She was spared from doing so as just at that moment, Ami happened to pull in front of the house in a white mini van. She rolled down the window and waved at Usagi.

Usagi's mother blinked a few times as she took in the sight. "Isn't that Mizuno, the genius girl that goes to your school?"

Usagi pounced on the opportunity. "Uh...yeah! she's my...study partner! Yeah, that's it! We're going to the library to...study! Haha..."

Her mother's eyes lit up. "Well, with her as your partner your grades should absolutely skyrocket!" She waved merrily back at Ami. "Have fun studying you two! Be sure to work hard!"

Usagi scrambled up to the curb and clambered into the passenger seat of the van. Upon her entry, Ami gave her a somewhat confused look. "She thinks we're going to go study?"

"She does now," was Usagi's response. "I kinda wanna keep it that way."

"Very well." Ami honked twice and pulled off into the street.

As they drove, Usagi cast a look into the spacious back seat of the van. There she saw a somewhat awesome variety of tools and other heavy-duty looking objects and devices; canvas bags that clicked and clanked as their contents shifted; and a large die-cast trunk. "What is all that stuff, Ami?" She asked.

"My digging equipment." was the girl's plain answer.

"Digging?" Usagi whined. "You didn't say anything about manual labor!"

"The labor is far from manual, I can assure you," Ami said. Once we are properly set up, the task then becomes largely automatic."

"Mmm..."

Not too long from there, Ami turned into the great park that was erected around The Angel's Grove. She brought the van around to the parking lot and settled in to one of the spaces closest to the base of the small mountain that overlooked the grove. By now, twilight was falling over the world and the sky had faded to a velvety pink. Ami climbed out of the driver' seat and opened the van' rear door. And right there did she put a canvas pack on her back; slide thick leather gloves onto her hands; and drape a pair of safety goggles around her neck. She grabbed the handle on the side of the great metal trunk and gave a mighty pull. It slid to the ground where it landed with a thud. "Usagi, could you please handle the opposite end of the trunk?"

"I, uh..."

"Oh, don't worry, it's much lighter than it looks."

Usagi complied as grasped the trunk's handle, and as promised, the two girls were easily able to haul the thing aloft.

"We must make our way up the designated nature trail that winds up the mountain. About halfway up, we must abandon the path and continue west to reach our destination."

"Alright then, let's go." Usagi said.

And so they began the longish journey up the side of the mountain. The going was relatively easy, there weren't many people about to ask them any weird questions, and the smooth pavement of the trail made for bump-free navigation. However, as light as the trunk had seemed initially, the thing now seemed to be getting heavier as they walked. Usagi found herself constantly switching her carrying stance; giving one arm a rest as the other grasped the handle. Ami looked to be having no trouble at all; her grip on the case was steady, and her hands hadn't shifted even shifted once.

"Here's where we make the turn," Ami said.

Usagi stared out into the snarl of tree branches and underbrush. "Are you sure, it's really dark now and that looks kind of...rough."

"I will take the lead in that case. I know the path by heart," Ami said back.

So they swiveled themselves around so that Ami was facing the front, and without hesitation did she troop backwards into the brush. Along this rather impromptu path, Usagi found herself suffering more than a few scrapes and scratches as thin whip-like branches lashed at her from seemingly every direction. Ami seemed largely un-bothered. "Um, how much further, Ami?" Usagi was beginning to ache all over from this effort.

"Just over this incline here." Was the answer

They broke the tree line and found themselves at what was considered to be the halfway point of the mountain. Ami lowered her end of the case and Usagi followed suit. "Phew!" Was her relieved cry. Usagi stretched her back in an inverse arch to sort of un-bend her vertebra after being hunched over for so long. "This is the place?"

"Yes," Ami said. She had popped the lid of the trunk and busied herself emptying its contents on the ground around it. There were all sorts of instruments and objects that Usagi didn't recognize, but the last of which, she did. It looked to be a simple halogen floodlight. Ami pointed it at the face of the mountain and powered it on. And there, Ami's "project" was revealed.

The light illuminated what looked to be the entrance to an enormous cave. It looked to be more than fifty feet in diameter, and it was carved right out of the face of the mountain. "Ami, that's unbelievable!" Usagi said. "You dug this out all by your self?"

"I did, yes," Ami said. She placed a hard hat on her head and buckled the strap under her chin. "Tonight I make the final breakthrough."

Usagi tilted her head. "Breakthrough to what? Why exactly have you been digging into the mountain like this?"

Ami stopped as she pursed her lips in thought. "I cannot really say why," she started. "There are just some things you do simply because you are compelled to do them. I'm not sure what it is that is driving me to do this but I feel I'm close to... _something._ " Ami looked Usagi in the eye. "Do you not feel it, standing here as we are?"

Usagi took in her surroundings. "I don't know..." she said. "What should I be feeling for?"

Ami gave a shake of her head and continued her work. She began unwinding a length of thin cable from a metallic spool. She connected one end of the cable to a electronic box she held in her hand, and snaked the other end up towards the mouth of the cave she had dug out. There was much clicking and snipping as she fastened things into place. Then she returned to her original position beside Usagi. "You may want to put these on," She said, handing Usagi a pair of goggles and a hard hat.

"Safety first!" Usagi sung as she accepted the gear.

"Now we must clear the blast zone."

"B-Blast zone!?" Usagi shrieked. "Are you going to blow something up!?"

"Oh yes," Ami answered calmly. "The remaining rock covering my discovery can be easily cleared with a single blast."

"Oh dear..." Usagi hunkered behind a rather conveniently placed rock as Ami began the final preparations.

"All systems check." She flipped several switches on the box, each responding with a _beep_. She then began her countdown. "Three...two...one... fire in the-"

"-Hey!"

It was a feminine voice that echoed down around them. A very _angry_ feminine voice. Both Ami and Usagi looked up to see a tall brown-haired girl in a pullover hoodie and jeans standing near the top of the cave. "What the hell are you doing?" she called down.

"Well," Ami began. "We are-"

"This is an active dig sight, or can you not read?" The girl plundered on as she pointed to a sign that confirmed her exclamation.

"I know," Ami said. "I have been digging here for some time. and I am almost finished." She looked over her detonator box again. "Now, if you would be so kind as to remove yourself from your current position; you are sure to be caught in the blast if you remain where you are."

"In the blast...?" the girl said incredulously. "Alright, that's it." And from right there on the spot, did the girl jump from her perch. Usagi gasped as she plummeted to the ground, but upon landing, did the girl pitch her bodily momentum forward into a tuck and roll, mitigating any and all damage she would have otherwise incurred.

"That was impressive." Ami said, her eyebrows raised.

"Listen here, you are _not_ blowing anything up, not while I'm around."

"What are you so afraid of?" Ami asked. "Are you not supposed to be here?"

"None of are, genius!" The girl shouted. "I'm kind of up here on the down-low, and I sure as hell don't need you _literally_ blowing my stakeout. So clear off, got it?"

Ami seemed to have left off listening. She was currently glancing back and forth between the imposing presence of this girl, and her position in relation to the cave's entrance. Almost like she was judging her distance from it...

And without warning, did she shout, "Fire in the hole!"

Usagi ducked behind the rock again as the other girl's eyes widened. "Don't you fucking-"

 _KABOOOM!_

 _..._

As Rei made the familiar headway into the increasingly dark reaches of The Angel's Grove, she began to feel the nagging regret of not having made this trip earlier; sure she knew the way, but she had not anticipated it becoming dark so soon. And upon stepping on a rather thick fallen branch, she also began to regret wearing her flat slipper shoes as opposed to much more substantial footwear, like her hiking boots.

After just a bit more trekking along the beaten path, did she arrive in the small clearing where she and Yuuichirou usually gathered their firewood. she immediately looked about for the promised stack of pre-cut logs, but there were none to be found. "Looks like someone got to them after all..." she sighed. There was nothing left then but to cut her own.

From the hollow of a dead tree, did Rei retrieve the small axe they kept hidden here for the purpose. And, after setting a small log on the stump of a dead tree did she cleave it cleanly in two. Despite the deceiving slightness of her figure, Rei possessed a rather uncanny upper-body strength, thanks to her years of Kendo training and her log-cutting duties. Rei lined up a second log on the stump and raised the axe above her head, poised to strike. Her muscles had just tensed for the stroke when-

 _KABOOOM!_

She dropped the axe entirely as her head whipped around towards the source of the sound. "What on Earth...?" She breathed. As any human being would be, Rei was naturally compelled to the sound. She broke the tree line and cast her view towards the mountain. And there, was the unmistakable curling of black smoke into the inky night sky. "That's the old mining site..." she mused. "By the gods, there could be miners trapped up there!" Rei rationalized that such a sound from such a place would soon attract the presence of of the authorities, but he saw no flashing red and blue lights or their telltale whine of sirens anywhere. "They need help," she lamented. "But what can I do...?" She gave a shake of her head and decided that there was nothing else for it, and took off up the mountain.

...

Minako and her troop of camp counselors and ensemble of children now sat in a great ring around an expertly-built camp fire (by Minako herself) and now munched on smores and hot cocoa. "Okay everyone, time for one more story, and then it's bedtime," said the head counselor. "And I think Minako should tell it; she has such a great imagination."

Minako smiled and set down her mug. She could feel all the expectant little eyes of the children on her as she cast around her brain for a good tale to tell. And then, a glance up into the night time sky gave Minako her inspiration. "Once upon a time there was a princess-"

"Not another princess story..." groaned one of the young boys.

"Now hold your horses," Minako said. "This is a good one." She started again. "Once upon a time there was a princess. And she was said to be the most beautiful lady in the entire world. But her world was much different than ours, because she lived...up there..." she pointed upwards into the sky.

"On The Moon, you mean?" Asked one of the children.

"Exactly," Minako confirmed.

"Isn't The Moon made of cheese?"

"That's preposterous," Minako laughed. "The Moon is made of rock, but it's the loveliest rock you've ever seen; much different than rock here on Earth. It's smooth and pure white, and reflects any light that touches it. And that's why the princess built her palace out of it.

"It was a marvelous sight; covered in great spires and tall towers, and all gilded with silver."

"Silver?" The children asked.

"Oh yes. It was the most precious resource on The Moon; they even used it as currency." Here, Minako's face darkened theatrically. "But also on The Moon, there lived a nasty, nasty sorceress. She was incredibly jealous of the princesses' beauty, her power, and her stature. So one day she-"

 _KABOOOM!_

Everyone was on their feet in an instant, their collective heads turned towards the echo of the blast.

"W-what was that?!" The children were frightened and on edge.

"Everyone into their tents, now okay?" The head counselor began to round up the kids and herd them into their sleeping tents.

"We're going to have to do something," Minako said. "That's the old dig site up there. and explosions on dig sites are never a good thing." She began to jog in the direction of the mountain.

"Minako, where are you going?" shouted one of her comrades.

"I'm going to check it out. If someone is hurt up there, then I'll call for help." She wagged her cell phone. "Be back in a bit." And she began her climb up the mountain.

...

In the aftermath of Ami's explosion, Usagi found her ears ringing slightly, despite having done her best to plug them with her fingertips. Even in her slightly deafened state, there was no missing the voice of the brown-haired girl that now echoed around them. "Are you out of your freakin' _MIND!?_ " She shouted. Her voice carried as true as the echo of the explosion. Ami seemed to pay her no heed as she began to sift through the rubble of the explosion; clearing away chunks of rock and debris from the mouth of the cave. "The cops are definitely gonna come now..." the girl said. "We gotta get outta here."

"No, we cannot leave," Ami said. "Not when I'm this close."

"Close to what? Do you have any idea what you're even digging for?"

"No," was Ami's answer.

"No!?" Was the girl's exasperated sigh. She turned her bright green eyes on Usagi, who had just worked up the courage to peek over the rock again. "And you!" She snarled. "You let this happen!"

"Uh...don't mind me...ha...ha..." Usagi sank behind the rock again, out of the girl's range of vision.

Just then, there was the rapid approach of footsteps. The girls turned in the direction to see a yet another girl, possibly close to themselves in age, arrive on the scene. Though the girl was dressed somewhat plainly, in a black button-down sleeveless vest, denim capris, and black ballet flats, Usagi couldn't help thinking how beautiful she was. Perhaps it was the almost mystic intensity of her face, or the way her curtain of shimmering raven-black hair caught the Moonlight. The new arrival looked about the scene. "Is everyone alright?" She asked.

"Oh yea," Answered the tall girl. "Everyone's just swell, thanks fer askin'."

"But...the explosion," the girl said worriedly. "Surely-"

"Oh wow, you heard that too?" The brown-haired girl said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's almost like it was _freaking explosion!_ "

The black haired girl looked to Ami, still on her knees clearing rubble from the tunnel. "You there, are you-"

"Absolutely fine," Ami said, her work never ceasing.

She relaxed her stance. "Thank the gods then," she sighed.

And just then there was a call of "Hey!" All heads turned in the direction of the new voice as yet another girl approached the scene. Usagi remarked her flowing blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. "Is everyone-"

"-Yeah, we're fine," the brown-haired girl interjected. "Everyone's still got all ten fingers and toes."

"But that explosion was-"

"-Intentional and perfectly controlled," said Ami, not looking up from her work.

The blonde girl noted the safety gear that Usagi and Ami were wearing. "Are...are you the miners?" she said.

Usagi shook her head. "No, we're just up here, doing..uh...you know...some stuff...ha...ha..."

The blonde girl blinked a few times. "Well...if everyone's alright here then I guess I should be getting back to the kids..."

Brown gave Blonde a very up-and-down look. "Little young for kids aren't you?"

"They're not _my_ kids," Blonde said with a slight blush. "I work at The Crystal Seminar Youth Retreat."

"So what are you, a scout or something?"

"You could say that," Blonde responded. "Sometimes I feel more like a soldier; keeping those kids in line is like a military...is she okay?" She had left off her original sentence and pointed in concern to Ami, who had apparently finished clearing away the debris at the mouth of the cave and simply stood staring into it's depths.

"What is it?" Black said.

Ami simply stared. "I don't know..." she said, the biggest smile forming on her face.

All five girls now stood staring into the mouth of the cave. Illuminated by the floodlight, they could see that the cave looked to play host to a smaller opening. It looked completely circular, and _just_ fit inside the circumference of the cave's mouth. A cave within a cave.

Ami was the first to break the stupor as she approached the opening.

"So...what the hell is it?" Brown asked.

"It may be an entrance to one of the mine shafts," Black offered.

"No, not quite," Ami said.

"What makes you say that?"

From her tool belt, Ami withdrew a small hand-held hammer. She tapped on the mouth of the cave. _THUNK THUNK THUNK._

Brown huffed impatiently. "Yeah it's rock, we get it."

Ami then tapped the hammer on the inside of the smaller opening. _CLING CLING CLING._

"Whoa...I think you might be on to somethin' there, chief," Brown said.

All five of their respective curiosities were peaked at this point as they formed up closer to the entrance. "This cave is not a natural formation," Ami said. "Someone built it, so it must lead somewhere." And she slowly entered the cave.

"Do be careful," Black said, her voice echoing through the cave. Even with the backdrop of the floodlight, the immediate depths of the cave were still shrouded in complete darkness. After a short time, Ami called, "All of you come here, and bring the light with you!"

Usagi scooped the lamp off the ground and held it front of her as to light her way into the cave.

"Hey, are we sure this is a good idea?" Blonde asked.

"If it isn't, then don't follow us," Brown said back.

The girls carefully picked their way through the opening and in just a few short paces, did they reach Ami's position. "Give me the light," she said.

Usagi obeyed as Ami took the lamp from her and placed it in a strategic position on the ground. Angling the light up and shining it on the wall, was her discovery revealed.

The light now shown on what looked like an ancient tapestry, carved right out of the face of the rock. The earthen mural was brilliantly colored, it reflected the lamp's light with an array of hues; white, green, blue, red, and yellow. And amongst these colors, were shapes; symbols; figures they did not immediately understand.

"What is it?" Blonde asked with wide eyes.

"It's so beautiful..." Usagi breathed in awe.

Ami took a moment to scrutinize the markings on the wall. "Those symbols, they look...possibly Kabbalistic in nature."

"No..." Black said. Her eyes were wide, her mouth just parted open; all the signs of wonderment. She slowly approached the wall, her hands held out before her as though in reverence. "This is it..." she breathed. She ran her hand slowly over the face of the mural "The Moon...Venus...Mercury...Mars...Jupiter." The girl smiled breathlessly. "This is it, by the gods, this is it!"

"This is...what...exactly?" Blonde said, a small note of concern in her voice.

"The answer. This is what they've been trying to tell me; this is what I've been searching for all this time!"

"Think it's worth any money?" Brown said. "We sell this thing to a museum and we are set for life!"

Black cast her a scathing look as she set her hands on the wall, almost protectively. "You will do no such thing," she said. "The answers I have been searching for are right here in front of me, and I will be damned if I let you..." The turned her head back to the wall as her sentence trailed off. "What in the world?"

"What is it?" Usagi asked.

"This wall it's...humming; _vibrating_."

"Huh, what?" Brown asked.

"Come, feel it for yourselves."

The girls approached the wall. Now in a single horizontal file, were they in range to feel it. "It doesn't even feel like rock..." Blonde whispered as she ran the palm of her hand over the surface.

"It's far too smooth to be so," Ami concurred. "This material..." she thought hard, casting to her knowledge of all known elements and compounds. "...It may not be of this world..."

"What, you think these are some alien hieroglyphics or some shit?" Brown laughed at her. "You are crazier than you look."

"If not that, then what could they be?" Ami said back to her.

Brown was kept from answering by the beginning of a new phenomenon. The five colors cast from the wall suddenly began to glow brighter...and brighter...and brighter. "Whats happening!?" Usagi screamed. The glow from the combined hues overwhelmed even that of the floodlight , as all was lost in their glow. And jut as quickly as it started, the event was over. Their power of sight now returned to them, they could all again look to the mural...or at least where the mural _used_ to be.

"What happened?" Blonde asked. "Where did the thing go?"

There was now nothing more than a face of plain gray rock where the brilliant image once was. Ami looked about the scene, for any potential reasons for the thing's disappearance. And that's when she saw them. "Look there on the ground."

Just at the girls feet, at the base of the wall, were...well, they didn't quite know what they were. They all, rather slowly, retrieved the objects from the ground, one apiece.

"What are these things?" Brown said.

The objects in question were indeed small enough to fit in their hands, but their oblong, rather tubular shape required a firm grip. They each glowed very faintly, with the colors that once shown out of the mysterious pictures on the wall.

"Look here," Black said. "They are topped with the same symbols that were on the picture."

"Mine looks like a '4'" Brown chuckled.

"Usagi, yours looks slightly different," Ami said.

Indeed Usagi's object seemed a small bit grander than the others. Hers was topped not with a planetary marking, but what looked like a carving of the crescent moon itself. It glowed with a lovely paraselene vibrancy.

"So, again, _what are they_?" Brown asked. "They look like little wands or something..."

"No more like..." Black drew the tip of the thing through the air. "Pens..."

"Just what I needed, more stationary."

And just at that moment, did the ground beneath them begin to tremble. The floodlight toppled over and shorted out, plunging them into darkness.

"Oh my god, it's an earthquake!" Usagi screamed.

"No it's not," Ami said, with a calm that no one else in the group felt.

All five girls turned uniformly to their right. This tunnel apparently went on for a lot longer than any of the initially realized. From what looked to be miles off, there was a pinprick of fierce yellow light at the end of the tunnel. And it looked to be approaching their position...fast.

"What is that?" Black said.

"It's hot," Blonde said. "Whatever it is, I can feel it from here."

Ami then had her verdict. "It's fire," she said.

 _"RUN!"_

All five turned to run, but they were far too late. The rush of yellow flame consumed their bodies whole. They were, all of them, instantly incinerated there on the spot.

They were dead.

...

*End of Shard 1*

...

 **A/N:**

 **Alright, let me explain. This wasn't planned at all, it just kind of...happened. Thing is, I recently saw the new Power Rangers reboot. This at the same time that I just so happened to be re-watching Sailor Moon Crystal. And, my mind working the way it does, immediately came up with a fusion of the two properties. Sailor Moon X Power Rangers is by no means an original concept, but I think I'm giving it a somewhat original twist...I hope.**

 **On another note, My RWBY fic: Shadows of Light may see an even slower update schedule than usual, which is saying something. In the downtime until volume 5, I'll fill the void with Sailor Moon. Gotta do something to keep from going crazy.**

 **So, I hope you enjoyed this intro chapter, hopefully the story will take on the shape that I'm envisioning. Until then...**

 **-B.D. Skunkworks**


	2. Shard 2- The Gathering

*Shard 2*

The Gathering

...

Usagi was awake. Her mind knew this before her body did. And with but one shockingly swift myoclonic jerk, was she up and alert. Her immediate surroundings were familiar, but somehow...different. Usagi cast aside her thick bunny-printed sheets and got to her feet. Despite having been inert for goodness only knows how long, her breathing was ragged and uneven. She looked about her bedroom, everything seemed as it should have been, but something was different. Was it her imagination, or could she just... _see_ better? Her eyesight, while not exactly stellar, was never truly bad either. But now it seemed that the details of her surroundings jumped out at her in an almost painful clarity.

And it wasn't just her vision, her hearing seemed to be incredibly amplified as well. Tiny sounds that she otherwise would have never noticed seemed to be all but deafening to her now. And then a new sound jumped out at her, it was the beat of her own heart. _TH-THUMP TH-THUMP TH-THUMP._

She turned to her dresser, as though compelled. And there resting on the top, was the artifact she had uncovered...yesterday? Last night? A week ago? She had no idea. She picked it up and stared at it. She had no hope of explaining what it was. If she didn't know any better, she would have just called it a moon on a stick. But she had the feeling it was much more significant than that. But what she did know, was that the thing seemed to radiate some kind of...power. Holding it as she was, she could begin to feel a great heat accelerating through her being. The heat intensified to a point where Usagi was sure she was going to boil in her own skin. The heat threatening to overcome her, she hobbled into her bathroom. And after a nauseously indecisive few seconds, was she promptly sick in the toilet.

After flushing the squelchy contents of her stomach down the drain did she reach blindly out at the sink, intent on using its purchase as leverage to pull herself up. Upon grasping the edge, she gave a pull, and fell back to the floor again. Still clutched in her hand was a chunk of the ceramic that was the bowl of the sink. "Oh my god..." she breathed. Usagi stared in a mystified disbelief at the chunk of porcelain in her hand. With an anxious curiosity, did she close her grip around it. The solid material absolutely imploded in her grasp; crumbling to powder. And like a lightning bolt was she up and moving. She paced around her room, wider than awake. A glance at her alarm clock told her that it was twenty minutes before it was set to go off.

Usagi dressed herself in the uniform of Juban Public middle school, and then simply sat there on her bed, feeling as though she were in a dream. Despite the events of...whenever (Usagi still wasn't sure if it was yesterday or not) being clearly significant to this new and sudden physical advancement of hers, Usagi had absolutely no memory of anything that had happened after...

She shuddered. The memory of the great rush of yellow flame that _supposedly_ cremated her alive washed over her in heated detail. Usagi looked down to her hands and was somewhat startled to see that she was indeed holding the artifact that had caused all this. She wasn't even aware of the thing being in her hands previously. Usagi rose from the bed and stuffed the thing into her school bag, right next to her undone homework.

She trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she found her mother cooking breakfast. "Usagi good mor..." she squinted her eyes. "You're up early..." She did a double-take between Usagi and the wall-mounted clock. "Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?"

"She's definitely an imposter," said her younger brother Shingo, who was seated at the table. "The stupid Usagi I know would be sleeping like a rock still."

Under normal circumstances, there would be a Sailor V Kick flying towards Shingo's head about now, but Usagi was certain that her circumstances had just become anything but normal. "You know...early bird gets the worm...or something," Usagi said.

Her mother smiled. "This must be part of the Mizuno study regime. Early to bed, early to rise!"

Usagi smiled a bit halfheartedly. "Well, I'm off."

And before her mother could chase her down with the offer of breakfast, was Usagi out the door.

Her progress down the street was slow, although not physically hampered in any way, Usagi's mental state was heavy enough to somewhat slow her feet. Just what had happened up there at The Angel's Grove? Something was clearly wrong with her, she had changed drastically. Usagi then simultaneously gave a great start and came to a complete standstill. She hadn't been alone up there, she remembered. Ami was there with her, as well as three other girls. Was Ami...could something similar be happening to her? Usagi started walking again, her pace quick and determined. She would meet Ami at school and they would talk this out together. Ami was a genius; she probably knew exactly what was going on here. After all, it was her that had made the discovery up there on the mountain, she had been digging for that...whatever it was...for ages. Yes. If anyone would know, it would be Ami

Not too long from there was when Usagi arrived at Juban public. And just inside the gate, in her usual place, was Ami. However, the girl was not brimming with her usual early-morning cheeriness. She was sat on one of the many benches, her bag clutched tightly to her chest as she stared solemnly at the ground. Usagi almost hesitated in breaking the girl's introspection, but she needed the answers; she needed assurance.

"Ami..."

She looked up, her eyes somewhat wild. "Usagi..." She stood and met Usagi's gaze. "Are you alright?"

"Never better...I think..." She answered.

They were both silent for short time; a stare of mutual acknowledgment shared between them. But then, Ami seemed to be distracted by something over Usagi's shoulder. Usagi herself turned around and saw on approach someone she was sure she recognized. The curtain of glossy onyx hair was what jump-started her memory. "It's the girl from the mountain," she said.

"One of them anyway," Ami agreed.

Usagi noted the girl's uniform. "Oh, she goes to that snooty private school..."

"Which begs the question, what is she doing here?"

Before they could share any more questions among themselves, the girl was on them. She gave each of them a look in the eye, and then, as though checking for any unwanted onlookers or eavesdroppers, did she swivel her head to the left and right, before settling on the two girls in front of her again. "Do either of you feel weird?" She said.

"Define weird, please," Ami said back.

Black changed her tact. "Do either of you feel... _different_? Have strange things been happening around you lately?" She asked breathlessly.

Usagi, who had her knuckles stuffed in her mouth up till that point, burst out with, "I'm strong."

Black turned to her. "How strong?" She said.

"Like... _weird_ strong," Usagi breathed. "This morning I broke the sink. A piece of it was in my hand and I just crushed it. Solid porcelain...just like that.."

"I'm fast," Ami chimed in. Both heads turned to her. "This morning, I ran here; positively _sprinted_ flat out, non-stop. From here to my building is a trip totaling 3.6 miles...I made it in here in two minutes; I wasn't even winded! I could have gone on forever..." Ami let her statement hang before turning to Black. "You?"

Black set her bag on the ground. Then, grasping the hem of her blazer, did she roll it back to expose her midriff, revealing...

"Oh my god..." Usagi breathed.

"I've never seen abdominal muscles like that on a female." Ami reached out a hand to stroke the girl's belly. "Hard as stone too..."

Black readjusted her blazer and retrieved her bag. "Something changed up there, I'm not the same; none of us are." She then withdrew the mysterious object they had found from her bag. "I'm sure it has everything to do with this. You have them too, right?"

Both Usagi and Ami produced their own artifacts. Black nodded. "So it's true then," she said. She gave a shake of her head. "It's strange, I have absolutely no recollection of making it home that night after..." She need not say what. They all knew what she was alluding to. "We have to go back up there."

Nods from Ami and Usagi. "We should head up after school, then we-"

"-No," Black cut in. "We leave now."

"And just skip out on school?" Ami said.

"Do you honestly believe school to be more important than what's happening to us now?" Black said pointedly.

"You're right," Ami conceded. "Let's go."

Usagi, driven by both her need for answers and her fervent desire to find any excuse to skip school, agreed as well. A thought then occurred to her. "Well, if we're going together, shouldn't we at least have your name?" She asked Black.

Black nodded. "I am Rei Hino," she said.

"I'm Usagi Tsukino."

"Mizuno, Ami."

Rei nodded. "We should get going. We can easily take the tram; it will stop right at The Angel's Grove park."

"I didn't anticipate a trip such as this. I have no money," Ami said.

Rei produced a debit card. "I have it covered," she said simply.

The group shared a nod and left the gates of the building, their next stop, The Angel's Grove.

...

And but forty minutes from there, was the trio walking up the mountain path, on route to their destination.

Along the way, Ami said, "I just had a thought."

"Hm?"

"There were two other girls with us on that night. Do you think they will come too?"

"Of course they will," Rei answered.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because human curiosity is an undeniable force of nature. They will come."

And just a short time after that exchange, did they reach the dig site, and it was there that they made a discovery, well, two discoveries. The first, was the the mouth of he great cave that Ami discovered had been completely boarded over, and over even that, there was bright yellow police tape that read 'Police Line Do Not Cross'. Their second discovery was the brown-haired girl from that fateful night. She was currently stripping away the boards that covered the mouth of the cave. So intent was she on her work, that she did not notice the other three girls on approach. "Find anything interesting?" Was Rei's inquisitive greeting.

Brown turned, her eyes full of mirth. "If I do, I'm keeping it!" She seemed to be enjoying herself greatly as she ripped away another board and flung it over her shoulder, right over the edge of the cliff. Usagi noted the rather startling velocity at which said object flew. "By the way," Brown went on. "Any of you bitches wake up surprised to be alive and jump over a house?"

"Not quite, but..." Ami half answered the question.

Just then, there was a new entrant to the scene; the blonde girl with the blue eyes. She stood rather meekly before the rest of the group, her bottom lip clenched between her teeth.

Brown smiled, "Well, the gang's all here, how swell."

They formed a somewhat awkward circle, all looking into one another's eyes. "So you all came back," Said Rei into the silence.

"I think we should cut the pretense," Yellow said. "Something weird is happening, and it's happening to all of us." She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and produced the artifact she had found on that night seemingly oh-so long ago. "You all have these, right?"

All five of the girls produced their own artifacts. "Clearly whatever is going on, we are all in together," Rei said. Reluctant nods from the rest of the group. "I think we should take this time to get acquainted. I am Rei Hino."

"I'm Usagi Tsukino."

"I'm Minako Aino."

"Mizuno, Ami."

Brown hesitated just slightly before saying, "Makoto."

After this awkwardly formal introduction, did Ami notice a detail about her artifact. She brought it very close to her face, her hand cupped around it, possibly to block the sunlight. "What?" Minako asked her.

"It's glowing..." Ami said in wonder.

In fact, all of the artifacts were glowing. Ami held hers out before her as though it were a compass. She swiveled on the spot and came to a conclusion, "It seems to be glowing brighter in this direction..." and with no preamble, did she walk off down the path along the mountainside.

The rest of the group followed Ami as she was lead along by the glow of her artifact. She trailed one hand over the craggy face of the cliff side as she angled her head downward, simultaneously watched her artifact and her feet. And then at once, did she stop.

"Find something?" Usagi asked.

Ami did not answer, instead, she back tracked just a few paces passed the line of her comrades, before trekking back to her starting point. "The glow..." Ami pondered. "It's at it's brightest right...here." She stopped and turned to face the rocky wall of the mountainside.

"And what does that tell us?" Makoto asked, her shoulders shrugged.

Again, Ami did not answer. Instead she stared steadily at the wall, as though she were trying to see through it. She held out her hand, her index finger extended, and slowly, very, _very_ , slowly, did she reach out to prod the cliff wall...

And it rippled.

Much like the surface of a body of water, did circular waves flow outward from the point of contact. The girls jumped back, startled by the phenomenon. "That is incredible," Rei whispered.

"What does it mean?" Minako asked. "Is something back there?"

Ami, now full of adventurous curiosity, poked her head through the "wall" all the way up to her shoulders. "Whoa girl!" Makoto grabbed Ami around her waist as to prevent the girl from possibly falling in.

Ami withdrew her head and said to the group, "There is a path that leads into the mountain."

" _Into_ the mountain?" Usagi said. "That's like, dangerous isn't it."

"Proly," Makoto said. "Which is exactly why we should go in."

Ami, possibly taking Makoto's statement as a challenge, walked right through the holographic wall, leaving the others somewhat flabbergasted. Makoto shrugged. "What the hell, " she said. And she followed Ami in. Soon the whole group had made the plunge through the hologram and found themselves in a natural passage of rock that was only just wide enough to allow them to proceed single file.

Being as the mountain's interior wasn't penetrated by the ray's of the sun, it was quite dim along the path. But the girl's and their new-found laser-like eyesight were able to traverse said path without any missteps. A few meters along, did Minako make a discovery. "Girls...where's that light coming from?"

They all stopped as they observed the event; the faint, but significant glow of hues that softly illuminated the walls around them. "It's...us" Rei said, looking over her hands stretched out before her. "It's coming from us..."

"Whoa, check out how we glow..." Makoto was fascinated by the green bio-luminescence emanating from her being.

"I'm blue," Ami stated with a smile.

"I'm white!" Usagi chirped.

Makoto gave the girl a quizzical look. "No, you're not."

"I am!" Usagi giggled back.

Ami, at the head of the line looked further down the interior path. "It looks like this path leads to a cavern." And she continued along, the other girls in tow.

And just a few moments from there, did they break out into the promised cavern, all simultaneously taking in the same sight. "No way..." Minako breathed. What they were seeing was...well, they didn't really know _what_ they were seeing. At the opposite end of the cavern stood...something. Although they couldn't identify exactly what it was, they knew it to be something out of this world entirely.

Ami, in her usual studious manner, began a visual assessment of the object and it's surroundings. "This must have been here for millions of years," she concluded. "Look how the rock is growing around it."

"Yeah, but what is _it_ , exactly?" Makoto said.

No one had the answer obviously. They approached the massive structure cautiously, as though it were a slumbering animal that may spring awake at any given moment. Rei then made an observation that brought the group to a halt. "Girls...look." Rie's artifact was glowing fiercely now, sending rays of fiery red light across her face. Indeed all of their artifacts were glowing with identical intensity now. "I think it's pointing us to... that," Rei finished.

And suddenly, as though in confirmation, did the apparent door leading into the structure roll open, like vertical revolving door. The girls shared a look of mutual apprehension. "We've come this far..." Ami said. And so in single file, did they climb the stairs leading into the machine.

The inside of the thing was just as far beyond description as the outside was. The walls around them looked to be multifunctional; shaped in such a way that they could possibly change their form at a moment's notice. And all of it was hewn from a smooth and metallic-looking material that they had no hope of identifying. Adding to this very alien atmosphere was the dead and oppressive silence that permeated the place, broken only by the sounds of their footsteps and excited breaths.

"Are we...like...inside a space ship right now...?" Minako asked this between shaky breaths, as she spun around on the spot.

"Possibly," Ami said with a cautious optimism. "I didn't want to say so earlier, but all evidence points to it being just that."

"Impossible..." Rei gasped silently.

Ami withdrew her smart phone from her pocket and tapped the power button. She pressed it again and again, but got no response from the thing. "Oh no..."

"What?" Minako asked her.

"My phone is dead. And I was going to take such great footage too..."

"Use mine," Minako offered as she withdrew the device from her pocket, only to find it dead as well. "No way, I charged overnight!"

The girls soon found that all of their phones were non-functional, and Ami formed a hypothesis. "Hmm...there must be some kind of static emissions emanating from this place that is causing undesired operation of our devices..."

Makoto squinted at the girl. "Alright, one more time, but in English."

` "She said this place is causing interference that is knocking out our electronics," was Rei's translation.

" _Is_ that what she said?" Makoto said with a somewhat malicious cackle.

"Girls, quiet!" Was Usagi's sudden exclamation. Her outburst had it's desired effect as alarmed silence washed over the group. "I think I hear something..."

They all focused their collective gazes ahead at the threshold of a seemingly empty corridor. "What is it?" Rei asked.

"I don't know, something's in the room with us," Minako said, her pitch just slightly elevated.

And there, from out of the shadows of the semi-darkened doorway, did a figure make itself present. And into the room walked...

A cat.

The girls let out a uniform sigh of relief as they learned their little intruder here posed no threat whatsoever. Usagi gave the little animal a look over and swore she recognized it from somewhere...

"Now how on Earth did a cat manage to wander in here?" Minako said, her smile widening. She squatted down to scratch the black feline behind the ears. "Hi there, pretty," She cooed to it. "You're just as lost as we are, huh?"

"I know perfectly well where I am, thank you very much," the cat responded.

Minako, much like some human crab, scuttled backwards on her hands and feet as fast as such an unnatural stance would allow.

"Holy shit..." Makoto breathed.

"It...talks..." Rei sputtered.

"I can do much more than just talk, that I can assure you," the cat said. The little animal looked at the collection of dropped jaws and wide eyes pointed at her. "Oh, _I'm_ the strangest thing you've seen all day?" She asked. "Things are going to get a lot stranger because all of your lives are going to change forever."

"How exactly?" Ami asked. She seemed to be taking the reality of talking cats the best out of the group.

The cat smiled. "You've all a great destiny to undertake, as the defenders of the world, no, the universe. It is your duty to protect life as we know it from those that seek to destroy it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Makoto interjected. "Protectors of the universe? Destroyers of life? What, are we in an anime or something?"

"This is no...'annie-may'...as you call it," the cat responded. "The events I speak of are truer than true."

"Alright, if this is real, than why don't we start from the beginning," Makoto said. "You got a name, or what, kitty cat?"

The cat nodded solemnly. "My name is Luna," she said. "I stand in service to Queen Serenity. And as I said, you all have a great destiny to undertake."

"Does this have anything to do with these?" Rei asked quickly, as she showed Luna her artifact.

Luna's ears flicked excitedly as the group all produced their individual artifacts. "Yes, the transformation pens!" She said. "With those, you will be able to take your rightful places as the next team of Sailor Soldiers!"

"As...I'm sorry, what?" Usagi was hopelessly lost.

Luna smiled. "Serenity can explain everything far better that I can. Come, I will take you to meet her." And she turned and trotted off into the belly of the ship.

The girls were at a loss. Did they turn and leave, or did they follow the mystery laid out before them? Makoto seemed to make the group's decision. "I don't know what any of this is about...but I'm fixin' to find out."

"Indeed," Rei concurred.

And so with a nod, did they follow Luna into the depths of the ship.

...

*End of Shard 2*

...

 **A/N:**

 **Oh what, y'all forgot about me? It's cool, cuz I got a new update for ya face! Nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon, so thought I'd get crackin' on my fanfic; there are much worse things I could be doing right now...**

 **Anyway, a big thank you to anyone who gives my content a read, I'll see if I can build some momentum and update more regularly...when I'm not playing King's Raid that is. Have you ever played King's Raid? I like King's Raid. King's Raid is awesome. Have you ever played King's Raid? Wait, I already asked you if you played King's Raid. If you haven't played King's Raid, you should play King's Raid, you know, because of the aforementioned awesomeness and all.**

 **Anyhow...I'll see you all again...sometime...**

 **-B. D. Skunkworks**


	3. Shard 3- The Ante

*Shard 3*

The Ante

...

And so, with an all but palpable sense of adventurous timidity, did the girls follow Luna into the depths of the ship.

The corridor they traveled along housed the same strange-looking machinery along it's walls as the apparent entrance did. As they walked along, did Rei ply to Luna a question. "Luna, when we first happened along these pens, there occurred a phenomenon afterward. Do you know what that was?"

"You happened to be standing inside one of the ship's thrusters at the time," Luna answered without breaking her stride.

"So this _is_ a spaceship!" Usagi gasped.

"Quite so," Luna said. "And it is designated _The Silver Millennium_. At any rate, Serenity believed you to be intruders at the time, which in a sense, was true. And she activated that particular engine in an attempt to purge you all from the ship."

Rei's eyes narrowed slightly. "So, had we not the pens, we would have...died?"

"Yes," did Luna answer plainly. The girls came to a horrified halt at this, Luna however, kept her brisk pace along the corridor. She was actually some ways along before he realized the girls we no longer following her. "What is it?"

"Are you kidding me!?" Minako cried. "We could have been dead!"

"What difference does it make now?" Luna said almost cheerfully. "You have the pens, you have the power. Already you have proved yourselves worthy by surviving that event." She turned and restarted her trek. "Come now, we are close to Serenity's chamber.

"So we haven't even met this Serenity broad yet and she already tried to kill us..." Makoto mused humorlessly. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna punch her in the face."

And so the girls resumed their journey into the ship, catching up to Luna in a surprisingly short amount of time. Luna just so happened to be standing on what looked like the threshold to a large room at the corridor's end. She cast them all together in the same glare as she stated, "You are about to meet Queen Serenity. I would put the suggestion to you to mind your tongues while in her presence, but I think you already know that."

"Do we though?" Makoto quipped.

"You will," Luna said with something of a sneer. "Now come."

They followed her inside to find themselves in a great circular chamber. Here it seemed that some of the ship's most advanced tech was on display. Ami was making furious mental notes on the various alien constructs that surrounded them.

"This is amazing..." Usagi breathed. "But where is Serenity?"

"Yeah, shouldn't this queen of yours be here to grant us an audience or something?" Makoto asked flippantly. "Or do space queens do it differently?"

"I caution you to mind that wit of yours," Luna said back to her. "Queen Serenity does not entertain such insolence in her midst."

"Luna?" Rei asked, a much more practically applicable inquiry on her tongue. "You still have not truly explained to us what this is about. What are Sailor Soldiers? What must we fight against, and why?"

Luna stared at Rei evenly through her bright red cat eyes. "Serenity can give all the answers you seek, and in much greater detail than I." Luna's ears flicked suddenly as she seemed to sense an incoming phenomenon. "Be still now, Queen Serenity approaches."

Despite Luna's instruction to remain still, the girls found themselves swiveling about on the spot, trying to ascertain from which direction Serenity could be coming from, seeing as the only door leading into the room was immediately to their backs.

And then at once, was there a series of great crackling flashes, each accompanied by a chime of some very alien siren, and then in the center of the room, did Queen Serenity take startling form.

Most predominantly striking about this woman was her apparent height, but this particular facet lost some of its power as the girls quickly realized that they were looking at what seemed to be a projection; a hologram of this woman. But this electronic facade did not detract at all from her great physical beauty. She looked much like a figure taken from some cosmic fantasy; clad in a gorgeously flowing gown of pure snow white silk; her eyes were the milky blue of pure moonstone and her hair followed suit; spilling lavishly along her form, and trailing across the very ground she stood on.

'She's so beautiful...' did Usagi sigh mentally. 'But the way her hair is styled, is kind of like...' Usagi suddenly found the other girls doing double takes between Usagi herself and the great holographic figure before them, no doubt stricken by the rather startling resemblance between the two.

Serenity then spoke her first words upon her grand entrance into the room, **"Luna,"** she said.

"I am here, my lady," Luna said in dutiful response.

 **"I sense a disturbance in the Mophin Grid, Luna,"** did Serenity say. **"I feel a great portion of it's power aggregated in our vicinity. Explain."**

"My queen, the next team of Sailor Soldiers are upon us," Luna said.

 **"Where are they?"**

"They are in the room with us, my lady."

And then, as though finally realizing the girls were even there to begin with, did Serenity turn her gaze in their direction. Usagi felt as though she shrank into herself a bit. **"These...these are them?"** the disbelief was plain in her amplified voice.

"Quite so, my lady," did Luna say.

 **"But...they are so small..."**

"They've yet to reach what is considered full maturity for humans," Luna informed her queen. "At this stage of development, they are referred to as 'teenagers'. Infamously remarked for being overemotional, overbearing-"

"-We're in the room you know," Makoto said. Usagi found it a wonder that the girl could speak at all, seeing as the rest of the group seemed to have been rendered mute from over awe.

 **"Show me the pens,"** did Serenity demand from them. The girls retrieved their respective relics from their persons and held them up shakily to meet the imposing lady's gaze. **"The Morphin Grid is never wrong..."** Serenity said, somewhat introspectively. **"If the pens have returned to the ship with these..."** she turned to Luna, in search of the missing word.

"Teenagers," Luna supplied.

 **"With these ...teenagers, then these teenagers are the Sailor Soldiers."**

The girls shared mystified looks among one another. They had heard the phrase before from Luna. But coming from Serenity, it sounded somehow more...menacing.

Makoto suddenly took a step forward. "Um hi, hello, sorry to interrupt, but I did I just hear you say that we're 'Sailor Soldiers?'"

Serenity turned to the girl. **"Yes, you are the Sailor Soldiers,"** she said somewhat impatiently. **"Any more questions?"**

"Yeah. Like, what are you? What the hell is going here? We need a real explanation."

Serenity regarded the fiery girl before her. She knew these young girls were scared and confused; suddenly being told that they had to fight for the very fate of the earth **.** Serenity then began her speech. **"As you already know, I am Serenity. Queen...** _ **former**_ **queen of the Moon's empire. Thanks to the eternity main system, I have been able to preserve my will in the ship's matrix, even though I have perished physically."** Serenity reloaded for breath, although it was clear that she need not to. **"I was the leader of my own team of Sailor Soldiers. Me and my comrades used the power to defend our empire from every threat that came from without. But we could not predict the threat that came from within..."**

"You were a Sailor Soldier?" did Ami ask.

 **"Quite so,"** did Serenity confirm. **"The same power that me and my comrades once wielded now rests with you all."**

Usagi looked to the little wand in her hand. Up until now she had no idea that she possessed a powerful magic relic that had once belonged to the queen of The Moon. The thought made her a bit dizzy.

"What happened?" Rei asked. "How did you come to perish?"

Serenity was silent a moment before answering. **"We had an Ally to our cause. Her name was Beryl. She was a wielder of incredibly powerful dark magic. Although she fought for our cause, many openly suspected her of having much more sinister motivations. I believed not in these rumors, and this folly proved to be my downfall.**

 **Beryl longed for the object known as the Legendary Silver Crystal. It is the physical manifestation of the Morphin Grid's total power. Were one to possess it, they would have the ability to create and destroy worlds; to shape existence in their own image. Although none have ever laid eyes on it, we knew it to be located somewhere on Earth. As did Beryl.**

 **She unleashed upon The Moon an entity known as The Negaforce, it is a nearly unstoppable torrent of darkness and death. My Soldiers fought to their last breaths, but were overpowered in the end. Beryl soon made to move onto Earth with this same power, sweeping over the world in her search for the crystal. In my last mortal effort, I was able to stop her, but only temporarily. I was able to cripple her, but not kill her."**

 **"And now, I can sense Beryl regaining her power. If she again becomes strong enough to raise the Negaforce, it will be the end of life on this world as you know it."**

The silence that followed this tale was deafening. Usagi could hear nothing but the rush of words in her head and blood in her ears. Minako spoke up then. "How do we stop her?" She asked, her voice unsteady.

 **"By using the pens to tap into the Morphin Grid and assuming the power of the Sailor Soldiers. Only then will you be strong enough to face her."**

"But seeing as Beryl defeated you and your team, what hope can we expect to have?" Was Ami's question.

 **"It is true that my team could not fell Beryl at her full strength. The difference this time however is that she is far from her full potential. The key to your defeating her is to find her quickly before she can locate the crystal and raise the Negaforce."**

"How long?" Rei asked. "How long before she reaches Earth?"

 **"She is already here, albeit in a severely weakened state."**

"Okay, how long before she's _not_ severely weak?" Makoto pried.

Serenity thought for just a moment. **"How long is an earthly cycle?"**

"Earthly cycle?"

 **"The transition from day to night and back again."**

"Twenty-four hours."

 **"Eight of those."**

"Eight days?!" The girls balked.

 **"Which makes your transformation into the Sailor Soldiers all the more imperative,"** Serenity said. And then around her, in a very pentagon-like arrangement, did five individual platforms come alight. **"To obtain your armor, you need to morph. Have any of you morphed before?"**

"That's a trick question, right?" Makoto said.

"Okay, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute," Minako suddenly burst out. She had been silent for some time, said span of silence leading to this inevitable outburst. "Can we just take a step back?" She gasped. "I mean, none of this makes sense! On that night, we found the pens, and then we almost died; we find a talking cat inside a space ship; and now we're standing here talking to the projection of a dead moon princess who's telling us we only have eight days to save the world!? I mean, I'm surprised I'm still wearing clean panties at this point, I-"

 **"SILENCE!"** Did Serenity roar.

Usagi was alone in the street.

In the place she recognized as her home town.

Everything was deathly still.

Even the air refused to move.

She took a step.

She had traversed miles.

And there, at the place where the ground met the horizon...

She could see someone.

Some... _thing_.

And then it was on her.

Some emaciated, barely human figure.

It opened it's mouth.

All the world's oxygen was drawn into it's maw.

There was only cold.

Only fear.

Only death...

Usagi found herself lying on her back. The pain racing through her body made her feel as though she had fallen from a great height. Minako, lying next to her breathed raggedly as her wild eyes darted about the room.

"Did we all just see that?" Makoto asked unsteadily.

Rei managed to regain her feet and confronted Serenity. "I don't understand. Why would you show us that nightmare?"

 **"It's not a nightmare,"** Serenity responded. **"That was the future, if Beryl is not stopped."**

Even in this state of heightened terror, Makoto was still impish enough to say to Minako, "Still wearing clean panties?"

 **"We must remain focused. Time is of the essence,"** did Serenity say. She cast a look over the group. **"As I have said previously, to obtain you're armor, you have to morph. I think this will be made easier** **on you if you all know the identities you are to assume. Hold your pens into the air,"** Serenity instructed. The girls did so, holding their pens aloft, their arms extended above their heads. The five platforms before them suddenly illuminated, each glowing with the respective color of each of the pens themselves.

 **"Yes, I see now,"** Serenity said mystically. **"I see in my mind's eye the roles you are to take."**

She then looked each of the girls in the eye individually as she began her proclamations:

 **"Ami, who's mind is of great power and range. You are the Blue Soldier."**

 **"Rei, who's words are accurate and strong. You are the Red Soldier."**

 **"Usagi, key to all the Soldier's powers. You are the White Soldier."**

 **"Makoto, lightning-quick and hard as diamond. You are the Green Soldier."**

 **"Minako, feather-light and true as an arrow. You are the Yellow Soldier.** "

 **"Use your powers together and you will be unstoppable!"**

"I like where this is goin'," Makoto said.

 **"Now please, step onto the platforms."**

Compelled by both instruction and curiosity, did the girls each step onto the platform of their designated color. The light under each of their beings intensified.

 **"Standing as you are, you should be able to connect to the Mophin Grid. Do you feel it?"**

"Umm...I feel kind of...tingly..." Minako said.

"I don't feel a damn thing," Makoto said.

 **"Focus,"** Serenity commanded. **"Think only of each other, and the Grid will open to you."**

Usagi closed her eyes as she sharpened her thoughts. She thought of the four other girls that were to be her team; Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako.

 **"The Sailor Soldiers are a legion of warriors sworn to protect life!"** Serenity bellowed. **"You must become those warriors!"**

Usagi could feel it. A great rush of excited heat swept over her body Her eyes remained closed against the searing light that exploded from her being. She felt lighter than air, stronger than steel! And then she felt...

Nothing.

The light faded as the event spontaneously expired. The girls checked themselves over for any great changes to their persons.

"Did...did we do it?" Ami asked hesitantly.

 **"Luna, what happened? Why didn't they morph?"**

"I don't know my lady..." Luna said dejectedly. "It's...disturbing."

Unperturbed, did Serenity make an affirmation. **"They will have to train without armor."**

Luna's eyes widened as her ears stood strait up. " _Without_ armor?" She gasped. "My lady that will be incredibly dangerous, possibly fatal!"

 **"They need to prepare,"** Serenity said solemnly. **"Take them down to the pit."**

Luna nodded slowly. "Please, follow me," she said to the girls.

After a trip of many twists and turns did they arrive at the innermost bowels of the ship. They found themselves in a room that somewhat resembled a a gymnasium. It was rectangular in construction, about the size of a soccer pitch. The whole room was in a state of semi darkness, possibly keeping any more contents from full revelation. "Welcome to the training annex," Luna said to the group. "Otherwise known as the pit. It is here you will learn the in and outs of combat."

Usagi found herself biting her lower lip at the word 'combat'.

Serenity's disembodied voiced suddenly boomed around them, **"Luna, begin the exercise."**

"Commence training program 'A'," did Luna say. And at her command, did a phenomenon begin around her. What looked to be holographic spheres of particulate formed in front of her, and then, standing before the girls, was a creature they had no hope of identifying.

"This is a youma," Luna said in explanation. "These are the lifeblood of Beryl's army. She can form them from any material she can access at the time. This particular example is made of rock, one of the most common elements found here on Earth."

"You kiddin' me?" Makoto said with a laugh. "How is this thing supposed to help us train?"

"Makoto..." Rei said in warning.

"I mean seriously, look at it." Makoto had sauntered up to the thing now, her posture full of disdain. "There's no meat on this thing. It's a hologram, like a video game! It's not even-"

The creature then caught the belligerent girl with a powerful blow to her chest, sending her hurtling across the room.

"That is a very strong hologram," Ami said evenly.

 **"On your feet!"** Serenity ordered. **"That blow did not hurt you."**

Makoto raised herself from the floor. "You're right, it didn't hurt me," she seethed. "But it sure as hell pissed me off!"

 **"Yes. Use that fire to motivate your training,"** Serenity said. **"The pens have granted you all power; your muscular structures have augmented; your minds have been quickened; your bones hardened to a density that renders them nigh unbreakable! Once you obtain your armor, these attributes will be enhanced a hundred fold!"**

It was then that four more of the lumpy youma creature materialized, joining their holographic comrade. They stood in a line before the girls now, one for each of them.

Serenity spoke, officially opening the proceedings. **"Sailor Soldiers. Welcome to training."**

...

*End of Shard 3*

...

 **A/N;**

 **Phew. Firstly, this chapter was actually meant to be a lot longer (almost as long as my spans between chapter updates, lol) but I decided to split this into two parts basically. Just figured I'd use my day off of work to do something** _ **somewhat**_ **constructive. Here I would like to thank anyone and everyone who took the time out to give my content a read. I'm gonna do this writing thing for a living one day, Agatha Marcum will never get off The Moon otherwise if I don't write her adventure! So with that in mind, I'll see ya when I see ya.**

 **-B. D. Skunkworks**

 **...**

 **P.S.**

 **I write these chapters in one sitting, so as always, please kindly point out any grammatical incongruities. Missing punctuation, words missing from sentences (I end up doing that one a lot) or anything that just doesn't look right. I'll get my act together one day and actually proofread my stuff...one day...**


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